


now i’ve got something i want to protect

by A_I_Neptune



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance, Depressed Lance, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay Keith, Hunk is mentioned, Hurt/Comfort, Keith is a good boyfriend, Lance and Keith are dating but they aren’t official, Lance is adorable, Lance is sad, Lance likes Keith’s gloves, M/M, PINING KEITH, cute lance, keith (voltron) - Freeform, lance (voltron) - Freeform, pining lance, slight langst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:53:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27110755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_I_Neptune/pseuds/A_I_Neptune
Summary: keith and lance aren't quite dating, but keith would like to say he knows lance well enough by now to recognize when he's sad, even when he puts up a front. and while lance cornering him after class and asking him to watch studio ghibli movies with him could be dismissed as usual lance behavior, keith has a feeling something else is going on.
Relationships: Keith/Lance
Comments: 8
Kudos: 148





	now i’ve got something i want to protect

keith heaved a long, relieved sigh as he ambled out of his last lecture of the day, sandwiched between pidge's tiny body and shiro's firm shoulder as the crowd of students swarmed and dispersed around them. it had been a long day. a long week, actually, spent cooped up in the dim confines of dorm rooms and libraries surrounded by crisp papers and empty styrofoam cups still stained beige from hastily swallowed coffee. his fingers were still cramped from their constant position crooked over his laptop keyboard, his eyes still dry from prolonged exposure to unbearable blue light and jumbled messes of digitally typed words composing digitally typed essays, rambling paragraphs that drifted from the realm of coherency somewhere around two in the morning. 

somehow, despite his chronically sleep deprived brain spouting surges of panic and nonsensical notions non stop for the past few days, he'd been able to complete each of his assignments and turn them in before the deadline. he was sure he owed majority of his success to shiro and allura, both of whom were ridiculously responsible for people their age and who forced their responsibility upon their listless, procrastinating friends. without their constant encouragement and guilt tripping methods, he might've simply decided school was pointless and dropped out to become a kick ass ghost hunter. sadly though, that career option wasn't a very stable one, and though keith very much loved the supernatural and conspiracies of many kinds, it wasn't his biggest passion, not like art and photography. 

"merlin, coran is a fucking saint." pidge praised, raising their eyes heavenward. 

keith nodded solemnly as shiro shot pidge an admonishing glare. 

"language." he warned her, for what must have been the billionth time. for the billionth time, she paid him no mind. 

"he's the only professor that didn't overload us with work this week." keith hummed tiredly. it seemed that only the orange haired weirdo teaching his film and photography class cared enough about the mental sanity of his students to lay off the work load, and keith couldn't be more grateful.

"i feel like i'm gonna drop." he murmured. all the coffee he drank had to be catching up with him. his hummingbird heartbeat which had been pounding fiercely against his rib cage for the entirety of the week had finally slowed into a sluggish, lazy tempo, and now, he simply felt dead on his feet. 

"well, look on the bright side," shiro said, laying a large palm on keith's shoulder. "it's over now, and we have a bit of time for ourselves before our next big project." 

keith smiled a bit at that. that hope had been his one saving grace throughout all of this. time. he'd have time for himself. time to relax, time to sleep, time to finally see—

"keith!" 

speak of the devil.

keith barely had any time to brace himself and dig his heels down into the floor before a lithe body was throwing itself haphazardly into his arms. he grunted at the unexpected impact, and almost immediately upon breathing in, his senses were invaded by the familiar aroma of sweet pomegranate and honey, an all consuming, enveloping resplendent that left his throat dry and his mind foggy. 

lance.

lance's hands were cold. as his bronze sheen fingers wove themselves around the back of keith's neck, he felt the chill of his smooth palms leech onto his heat and sink into his blood in cool shoots of faint ice. he grappled for purchase, hastily searching for his waist beneath oversized cotton blue fabric, and hooked his fingers around the familiar crests of lance's narrow hips, holding him steady. 

"what's up in loser town mullet?" lance uttered in a breathless mumble against the shell of keith's ear. sweet magenta warmed the curve of his skin and kissed it flushed pink. 

keith chuckled and lightly dragged lance back so he could meet his eyes. he looked soft and pretty today, though truthfully, in keith's eyes he was always soft and pretty. but today, he was light spun. soft mineral glow to smooth brown skin, and the fragile bends of a ceramic bone structure accentuated by faerie dust and starlight make up. his lips were glitter glossed, strawberry petals spread into a crooked smile, his crystal ocean blue eyes striking against kohl lined lashes and shimmering azure powder eyeshadow. apples of gold gilded cheeks rosy as sleepy poppies, ears kissed by warm red sun. 

"that was so lame." he chuckled, though his tone was saccharine, lovesick sweet. lance grew faintly warmer beneath his touch. 

lance shook his head, and blond streaked tresses coiled in listless curls brushed lightly against the curve of his jaw. still, enraptured as keith was by the boy before him, gaze lost somewhere between rose and dahlia, he felt the smile on his mouth was strange.

"you're lame." lance retorted, in his usual way. but keith couldn't help but think the words held less heat behind them than usual. they fell paler and softer, curled strangely on his tongue. he seemed weirdly unenthused.

"what do you want mcclain?" keith teased, and lance giggled a slightly weakened cherry blossom trill. 

"well," lance drew out, and upon his skin, keith felt the tips of lance's thin, nimble fingers tap out a fluttering pattern. "since you clearly have nowhere to go and no one to see, i was wondering if..."

an uncharacteristic moment of hesitation. keith's brows pinched as lance sucked his shiny bottom lip between his teeth, and crystal grew vaguely obscured by scattered dimness. keith squeezes his waist a little tighter between his fingers. 

"would you like to watch howls moving castle with me? tonight?" lance spewed in a hasty jumble. his gaze was oddly frantic and evading, and keith wondered if his adhd was bothering him more than usual. 

keith tilted his head, and a cherry smirk settled hot on the corners of his mouth. "you mean that...rodeo bhibli movie—"

"it's studio ghibli and you know it mullet head!" lance admonished, eyes pinched in mock offense. "now you're just trying to annoy me."

keith raised a brow. "what gave it away?"

lance glared at him in that cute, kittenish manner in which he always did, but there was a thinness to it, a strain. something a bit feverish. 

keith nodded.

"yes lance, i'm free tonight, so i will watch your movie with you."

lance lit up at that, projecting the compressed ball of searing sunlight within the heart of his being and nearly blinding keith with its unrelenting illumination presented in the shape of that smile, vivid and a little hazy. keith almost winced when excited hands squeezed his nape in over energetic gratitude and lance squealed out a muffled "yay!"

"i'll order pizza!" he announced, hopping on the balls of his feet. keith allowed his hands to pry away from lance's soft skin when lance began to bounce and dance in place. 

"pizza with pineapples?" keith asked, biting down a snicker, and lance hissed.

"no!" he jabbed an accusatory finger at keith's chest. "be at my dorm at 8, keith, spawn of satan. you shall be cleansed of your filthy thoughts by only the holiest of pizzas."

with that, he whisked around and began skipping back down the hall, swishing locks and swaying hips and long, long tan legs, and pidge laughed, reminding keith rather suddenly that they had not been alone.

"i think it's gonna take more than pizza to cleanse keith's filthy thoughts." pidge mocked, and she earned a light shove from keith and a stern look from shiro. 

"oh keith," shiro sighed, watching keith's dream glazed eyes heavy with adoration as they followed lance's figure. "when are you going to make it official?"

keith hummed. 

"i will," he said, even if the admittance chased his cowardly heart into the cramped corner of his chest cavity. "soon."

"well there's no way he's gonna say no," pidge huffed. "i mean, look at what just happened. he's even more hyper than usual."

keith's forehead crumpled. "hyper?"

pidge bobbed her head. "yeah. didn't you notice?"

keith nodded, as if he had. 

but...he couldn't help but think there had been something distinctly off about lance. 

* * *

keith showed up at lance's doorstep around eight o' clock in the evening, as promised, in a loose grey t shirt and a pair of black sweatpants, rested and ready to go, having taken a quick cat nap before departing his dorm with the knowledge that lance would never allow him to sleep through a movie he had not seen previously.

lance came to the door almost immediately after hearing the telltale sound of keith's firm knock against hardwood, swinging it open so quickly keith had to take a hasty step back to avoid being hit in the face. he was precious, like a small, sunset kissed soul still youthful with a tentative innocence. clear crystal eyes gave way to truth, spoke of the boisterous freedoms only hindered by self inflicted doubt and an utter lack of all corruption. the combination of such an innocently joyous look upon the plains of such gentle features, rosebud lips spreading into the blossoming flower of honeysuckle smile, along with the fact that lance wore only a knitted winter hat with a fluffy bobble his mother had gotten him for christmas, a large, cornflower blue sweater he drowned in, and a pair of small shorts hardly long enough to cover the expanse of plush cinnamon thighs and elongated honey tan legs was a little much for keith's already strained heart, plucking carelessly at the loose strings hardly holding the flushed organ together.

he struggled not to openly gape at lance, struggled not to allow his eyes to rove over his lithe, flawless form, gentle in some places like smoothed figures softened by dawn's light, and sharper, curvier in others. lance was just so beautiful, even in such a casual setting, dressed in such casual clothing. perhaps it was the normalcy of the act, the comfort depicted in his loose stance that drew scalding heat from keith's chest and left his fingers warm. 

"keith!" lance hummed, and his happiness was such a loud and blatant thing, it sent a amaryllis blush skittering along the curves of keith's cheeks. "you're here!"

keith smirked a little. "i'm here."

lance hiccuped a soft giggle, a harmonic composition of breath taking refrain, and though infused with enough virtuous, unsullied melody to momentarily strip him of the oxygen in his lungs, again keith was struck again with the thought that something was slightly off.

"hurry, come with me," he rushed, twining knobby cinnamon fingers around keith's thin wrists and pulling him into the warmth of his dorm room. "it's movie night time!"

lance tugged him into the hallway, taking a brief moment to kick the door closed with the tips of his bare toes, and then he continued pulling keith along to the living room, which looked vastly different from the last time keith had visited. the thrift shop bought navy blue sofa and circular white coffee table had been moved and rearranged around in the small space to better support the ridiculous looking structure built in the center of the room. lance had found the time before keith arrived to create a gigantic blanket fort in front of the tv, several thick, long fuzzy blankets draped vastly across chairs and tied around the legs of tables. walls of soft cotton fabric had been made everywhere except the entrance, which was a large open space at the front of the fort revealing the cozy looking inside, a makeshift bed crafted from fluffed up pillows and flattened sheets. it looked big and comfortable, and the space was lit by hung up pink fairy lights. when keith turned to face lance with rounded violet light bulb eyes, lance was smiling a small, triumphant smirk only just edging into the beginnings of a pure grin, and twisted with the faintest sign of tentativeness, the kind that sought out approval in the floral filled eye sockets of others. 

"cool right?" he giggled, and several months ago, keith would have thought lance had said as much because that was truly his belief. but now, after having come to know him as he truly was beneath the hardened layers of stainless bronze steel lance had painstakingly wrapped around his raw form, keith knew the scrunch at the corners of his eyes and the barely noticeable pinprick of bashful poppy on his cheeks were tiny signals, little pleads for validation that keith was more than willing to give.

"you're really good at making blanket forts lance. well done." he said softly, and he was rewarded with the sight of lance squirming cutely where he stood, shoulders trembling with a little, timid huff of laughter and bare legs brushing nervously as he shifted his weight. 

"thank you." he breathed, and a little bit of the obscured strain keith had sensed before seemed to melt from the shadowed edges of his eyes.

lance raked his nails lightly along the flushed nape of his neck before gesturing towards the inside of the fort. "go ahead and get comfy keith. i'll get our pizza."

"okay."

keith kicked off his sneakers and tucked them against the wall but decided to leave his leather gloves on, as he'd noticed lance seemed to like the feel of them against his skin. he crawled inside the fort as lance pattered off to the kitchen, and he was immediately enveloped by a warmth that smelled distinctly of lance and the gentle illumination of rose lights. lance really had done a good job. keith could feel the residual bolts of tightly screwed stress slowly melting from the crevices of his creaking bones as he settled against the soft sheets and the satin pillow, dizzying aromas settling in a soothing haze over him. he sighed, leaning into the fluffy support of his pillows and angled himself inwards, so lance would find it easier to tuck himself against him. 

a few moments later, lance returned with two cans of chilled sprite and plates of pizza. he hummed as he crawled in and settled against keith, thigh pressed to thigh and his side tucked against keith's heartbeat. he placed the food and drinks in front of them and grasped the remote. 

"you're gonna love this movie," lance insisted, and his smile twitched oddly. keith fought to repress his frown at the brief sight. "howl is a babe, he's gonna take your entire heart."

keith chuckled. "my entire heart huh?"

lance nodded seriously. "your entire heart."

"alright sharpshooter, let's get going then." 

lance nudged at keith's bare calf with his cold foot, and keith shivered at the brush of frigid contact. then, lance pressed play and the movie began.

keith had to admit, for as much shit as keith gave lance, the movie was actually really fucking good so far. they were hardly thirty minutes in, and keith had already decided the film now held a special and treasured place in his heart, and he could easily understand why lance, an effervescent sun tanned soul burdened by oh so tender nerve endings and devoted floral crafted insides would find such a film so wonderful. lance had always been so easily enraptured by all things fantastical and romantic. it was one of the first things keith had truly noticed about him, one of the first things that made him question the idea of their rivalry and non romantic love/hate relationship. catching a fleeting glimpse of lance's soft face when he was truly captivated by something was ground breaking, earth shattering for keith. 

the excited flush of passionate gerbera daisy fizzing a sweet scarlet upon his cheeks, seeing those pretty glossed lips pink and parted to release gentle, awed breaths, and the glimmering pools of pure blue sapphire flashing with darkened gradients of ocean mysteries...seeing that on the boy who had proclaimed him his enemy had confused keith's heart so thoroughly that he'd rushed home and screeched into his pillow before running into shiro's arms and crying about how stupid lance mcclain shouldn't be so fucking pretty. he'd since gotten over that crisis, obviously. and yet still, the sight of those enraptured eyes fixed upon the screen once again prompted the slow blossom of an ache within his chest. 

but, keith began to notice with each passing moment, that enraptured, wondrous look seemed different tonight. off, just like lance had been all day. there was that same tensity poorly hidden within the shadows of his face, the same stiffness reflected in those shining pools that keith had seen before, felt before beneath his adoring fingers. lance chirped adorable and faintly frantic comments about the movie, singing praises to howl and to calcifer and to turnip, claiming that the moving scarecrow was the only inanimate object he would willingly fuck—keith had to admit that one caught him off guard. but the statements were strangely tight, as though he were forcing his trilling, melodious voice out through a thin tunnel, as though his throat were wound a little too tight, his chest trapped beneath a burdening weight, heavy and unrelenting. 

lance thought he had keith completely fooled. but keith liked to think that, by now, he knew when lance was happy, and when he wasn't. 

finally, keith pushed away their empty sprite cans and cleaned off pizza plates so he could press closer into lance's side, and softly, he placed a tender hot hand on the back lance's, rubbing his leather clad fingers across the bumps of his knuckles. he felt lance shudder cutely at his touch. 

"what's wrong?" he asked in a near whisper, and lance startled against him. 

keith turned to him, gaze fearsome and piercing as the daggers he kept in his drawers, cutting through the fogged up layer of haze before lance's irises. lance suppressed his flinch and forced a lopsided smile. keith narrowed his eyes.

"nothing's wrong!" he insisted, tilted his head in feigned curiosity. the bobble on his knitted hat fell to the side. "i'm absolutely fine!"

he added a tinkling giggle for added affect and nodded towards the moving screen, silently asking keith to continue watching. but keith could sense the culpable truth buried within the washed out tones of lance's sickeningly sweetened murmurs. he shook his head, refusing to allow the facade in his presence.

"isn't calcifer the cutest little fire demon in the whole world?" lance said hastily, hints of desperation bleeding into his voice. "he's so precious, i swear i would throw myself in front of a train for him—"

"lance, what's wrong?" 

keith squeezed lance's arm between his fingers, dragging his fingertips along the cold, smooth skin there. lance made a tiny, hardly audible noise in the back of his throat, a choked off sound throttled out of existence. 

"n—nothing," he continued to insist, but his voice broke on the brittle word, heavy and sluggish with suppressed ache. his eyes were glossy with broken gossamer and hot rain droplets when he met keith's stare. "i'm fine keith, i'm fine."

keith's gaze was stern, gently admonishing as it seared through lance, and he stifled a small gasp.

"you don't have to pretend all the time," keith uttered, low, caramel drizzled speech raspy with warmth and purring. "it's okay to be sad," keith took his other hand, and smooth leather drew paths of pleasant, simmering heat along the heel of his palm. "lance, you taught me it's okay to be sad. it's okay for something to be wrong. you're only human. please," keith's eyes were...soul bearing. lance felt exposed underneath his attention, raw underneath his stare, and so, so vulnerable. keith could feel him trembling, trembling like he'd been exposed to the cold for so long, for too long, and the numbing snow had sunk weightless, fizzy teeth into his tender skin, sipping greedily from lance's hot sunbeam center until he was nothing but gray cotton and fear. 

keith didn't want him to be cold anymore. not by himself.

"please, baby, tell me what's wrong?"

lance's bottom lip quivered, and slowly, with that soft utterance, something finally broke. the weak gossamer tore itself apart in its rush to make way for those silver tear drops, those hot, falling crystals pricking sharp at lance's eyelids and spilling hastily over the brim of long coffee lashes, splashing shades of saddened moonlight and cobalt dye upon his trembling cheeks. big, glossy eyes burned desperate, and lance's lips parted as a quiet wail pushed from his throat. 

"i d—don't know what's wrong?" he cried, shaking shoulders and soaked skin, and keith ached for him. "i just...i just woke up all sad...and i don't know what's wrong with me because i have everything i could ever need and i'm not like you! you—you have a good reason to be sad, but i don—don't have a reason! i'm just ungrateful!" lance sobbed, hands curling into unforgiving fists and beating lightly against his thighs, inflicting subconscious punishment. keith trapped them in his fingers again. "i have everything i need, and i'm still so fucking sad! what's wrong with me?"

"lance, lance." keith whispered frantically, chests heavy and soaked up with pain. he pulled lance's harshly shivering form against him, dragging his cold body into keith's hearth captured heat and stroking gentle lines of flame along the backs of his frigid arms. lance, wrought with sorrowful anguish, anxiously sought out keith's embrace, finding sustainment for his craving skin in keith's arms, and he feverishly climbed onto keith's lap, settling himself pressed flush against keith, crying into his shoulder as keith grasped his hip with one, hot hand and trailing the other along the notches of his spine. he subconsciously arched into the delicate, brushing motion, and his nerves shivered with each drawling touch. for a second, his body felt less heavy. 

"it's okay, you're okay," keith breathed against his cheek, and lance sniffled wetly against his shirt. "you can be sad, because you're human. when it comes to feeling sad and upset, there is no such thing as competition. your sadness isn't any less valid than mine. just because you have everything you need doesn't mean you're not a living being that feels sadness sometimes. it's normal to be sad sometimes lance."

lance's heart twinged, and shamefully, he shook his head, cheeks flooding with weeping rose sunsets. keith's eyes widened a fraction, and he awed in understanding.

"but it's not just sometimes, is it baby?"

lance shuddered.

"i don't know what's wrong with me." he repeated, voice water clogged and torn through with wispy holes. 

"nothing's wrong with you," keith insisted, words so, so warm. "maybe your brain just doesn't work like other people's, and that's okay. mine doesn't either. i could be with my friends, and we could all be laughing and having fun, i could start having a panic attack. it's just because my mind doesn't work the same as everyone else's. i went to a doctor and got treated. and maybe you should think about doing that too."

lance shook his head fervently, fingers curling tight around fistfuls of keith's shirt. "but mine isn't serious like yours! i'm being dramatic, it would be stupid for me to—"

"what would you do if you started feeling sick all the time," keith interrupted firmly, absolutely refusing to allow lance to hurt himself like this. "you'd go to the doctor right?   
because you shouldn't be getting sick all the time, that is harmful to you and your health," lance hummed brokenly against him, and keith could hear the violent rattle of dejection's sad ceramic pieces shattering lightly behind lance's soft milk rib cage. 

"it's the same for this," he went on. "you shouldn't be feeling sad all the time, because that is harmful to you and your health. you don't deserve to feel sad all the time. you deserve help. just like i deserve help and shiro deserves help and hunk deserves help. you are not any less valid than any of us. okay?"

lance sniffled and nodded. "thank you keith."

he felt keith smile against his flushed cheek, a sun warm cherry curve soft against his freckled skin, and then the fingers on the crest of his hip, searing a handprint through his petal flesg, were drifting up, up, up to his face. hot, slender fingers calloused from years of work, dancing along the delicate bend of lance's wet cheekbone. such a tender touch, so gentle. as though lance were some frail treasure, some small, innocent being keith had to protect, made from sweet nectar and white calla lilies, breakable in keith's hands. the pad of his warm thumb lifted to catch a stray teardrop as it trailed from lance's lashes, and lance couldn't help the little heave his chest gave against keith's firm one, couldn't help the way his stomach hitched with deep, singed breath and flooded with molten lava as his skin was set alight. 

keith pulled back, just enough to meet his eyes. a scalding sky engulfed in deep, dark purple flame. twin daggers looking upon lance with an insurmountable intensity, a demanding potency that had lance subconsciously bending to its will, subconsciously seeking out more of the near boiling heat keith produced as if it were his only saving grace. and in a way, he felt it was. the cold within his bones seemed frightened of keith. keith and his brutal honesty, the way his sincerity burned and roared soft as thunder, the way keith made lance ache and made him brave. the cold seemed frightened and so it fled with each touch keith granted him. and that honesty, that potency, it made him want to believe keith was right, made him want to see...

though his pomegranate and honey sweetness must have been dulled by the salt of his tears, keith drew closer, ever closer. there was soft breath ghosting the surface of his skin, leather and skin on his quivering jaw, and then hot, hot, hot lips on his. 

lance had felt keith's kisses before. upon his brow, upon his cheek, upon his mouth. and each time, he'd been left stripped down to his core and defenseless against keith's allure, his persuasions. but each of those kisses had been just as fast and just as hurried as the boy himself, quick, searing flashes of strangled whines and low hums, of leather pressed to his face and hands on his sides and tongue and fire.

but this...this was slow. and somehow, slow was worse, for now lance could feel the way his body gave itself up, each second leaving him melting more and more into a useless, limp creature all flushed and soft with adoration as warm lips moved painstakingly sluggishly against his own and hands drawled long strokes over his hips, falling down to his bare thighs. 

the heat was almost unbearable. keith smelled so sweet, like orange zest and spice, and it made lance so dizzy, he could hardly remember himself. he clung to keith's shoulder as the aroma of him and his heady leather enveloped him, clung to keith's shoulders as those hands explored him, melted him, and those lips destroyed him. he tasted sweet too. like carbonated fizz and strawberry. and then keith's tongue teased at the opening of his lips, glided along his plush bottom lip, stealing away its gloss. 

"ngh..." he choked out, small gasps working themselves from his throat and quickly being swallowed by keith's mouth. keith kissed him warmly, and then slipped in his tongue, exploring lance carefully, lovingly. 

lance sighed a half moan, unable to choke off his surprised squeak when keith's fingers wrapped around his thigh and squeezed. 

then his touch slipped beneath lance's large sweater, searching and grappling through layers of bunched up fabric until they found his waist, and liquid fire and molten lava flooded him. he let out soft, embarrassing keens as keith drew slow, teasing fingers along his spine, tracing each bump with delicate care as though mesmerizing each new feature they stumbled across. that tenderness, that warmth, as keith's fingers climbed higher and higher, fingernails scraping lightly, hands praising lance's skin...

eventually, they stopped kissing, and lance was left bashfully mewling into keith's neck while his hands explored him. 

"you're so pretty baby..." keith hummed, so soft for the boy shivering in his arms. lance whimpered against him, and keith kissed his shoulder. he knew lance needed this, needed to know he was worth so much. and lance grew warmer and lighter with each passing second. 

"you're so beautiful...you're so so special, you know that?" 

lance shook his head, breath hitching. 

"well you are. you're so special and so kind and gentle. i wish you could see yourself like i see you. you have such a beautiful heart. you're one of a kind. and you deserve to be happy." 

keith pressed lightly into the space between lance's shoulder blades, and lance sighed, so, so content. 

he was still sad but...it felt better when keith was here. easier. 

"keith," he whispered, clinging to him with tighter hands, desperate fingers. "keith i really really like you."

keith smiled into his hair. 

"i really really like you too."

lance opened a timid kiss beneath keith's ear, savoring the brush of keith's skin beneath his lips. he felt keith's chest thrum with a quiet laugh. 

"do you...maybe...wanna be my boyfriend?" 

keith felt elation tease at the edges of his brain, thoughtless and giddy. that familiar dream glaze he fought so hard to keep at bay when in lance's vicinity threatened to coat hazy eyes in glassy reverence and sweet devotion, and he tried not to giggle out of pure joy, for he knew lance would treasure the sound and record it to memory, never allowing him to live it down. instead, he just pinched lance's side. lightly enough not to hurt, but enough to prompt an indignant huff from lance's lips and a fleeting glare that lacked all animosity. 

"yes," he said. "yes, i maybe wanna be your boyfriend." 

lance made a cute, chirping sound against keith's skin, something reminiscent of the joyous tune of some ludic songbird, made so precious by the manifest jubilation it so clearly displayed. keith couldn't help the adoring guffaw he let loose afterwards, and he could only shout half hearted protests when lance hit him in the chest, affronted. 

lance looked up at him with such softness, and his eyes reflected the same unbridled adulation keith felt in full at that moment. 

"can we cuddle?" 

keith grinned. 

"of course baby."

lance blushed, hands spasming against keith's sides and comforted tremors wracking his frame. before keith could smugly address his reaction to the honey sweet endearment, lance was pushing him back down into a comfortable position and scrambling on top of him, warm, soft body curled gently against keith's. 

and keith wondered how the sweet, sad boy in his arms could ever feel such shame, could ever think keith would prefer that plastic smile and glossy eyed gaze to the real lance. 

the lance that felt things and ached and sometimes cried into keith's shoulder, precious and small in keith's embrace, that sun kissed soul shaking in his arms. 

he didn't want lance to never be sad. he just wanted lance to let him help when he felt that way. 

because lance was so, so special.

"dammit, we're missing the movie! lemme go back..." 

and keith would do anything for him.

**Author's Note:**

> a/n: 
> 
> hi lovelies! how was this one shot? i don't know how i feel about the end, something about it just makes me feel weird but, i don't know. did you guys like it? is there anything i could improve or anything you didn't like? 
> 
> please leave comments telling me your thoughts and feelings and thank you soooooooooooooo much for reading!
> 
> i love you all so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so much, and i hope you all are attending to yourselves and your needs very gently. it's so so difficult to gather up the energy or the motivation to care for yourself now, especially since no one will see you. but it's okay to care for yourself strictly for yourself. it's okay to impress yourself within the privacy and solitude of your own home. after all, you are a divinity, gods and goddesses and elevated beings, and you can be devoted to the temple that is your body, decorate the shrine that is your being to appease yourself.
> 
> your eyes are worthy of gazing upon you. you can take your time bathing and resting and tending to yourself because you know you deserve it. you can admire yourself in the mirror after a shower and you can hug yourself and call yourself beautiful and give yourself a makeover even if you aren't going anywhere. you are so deserving of that. you are deserving of praise and adoration, not only from others, but from yourselves. you are deserving of a touch as soft as clouds and embraces sweet and lingering. you are deserving of constant encouragement, constant validation from yourself, as well as others.
> 
> you are so loved. and as loved as you are and will be by friends, family, and lovers, you also deserve to be loved by yourself. and even though that is a long journey and you may not be there quite yet, there's nothing wrong with treating yourself as though you are the most beloved beauty of this world, because in many ways, you are. inside and outside, you are priceless. you are indescribable and breath taking and ethereal. and i'm sure if i met any of you, my breath would be taken away by you, and all your celestial allure. 
> 
> i wish i knew each of you in real life. when i read your comments, my chest gets warm and i get the biggest smile. all of you are so precious and so adorable. i wish i could tell you all that every day, and i wish i could hold you tight and brush my fingers through your hair and tell you how much i love you and take care of you and make you feel happy. 
> 
> but since i can't be there in real life, i hope these messages help! 
> 
> take care of yourselves, be kind to yourselves, and treat yourselves because you're special and you're worth it!
> 
> i'm sending you all warm cuddles and virtual hugs!
> 
> eat and stay hydrated!
> 
> love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
> 
> ☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆


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